Stamp-safe



(NoModeL) H. A. STEVENSON. STAMP SAFE.

No. 469,607. Patented Feb. 23, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

HARRY A. STEVENSON, OF SAG HARBOR, NEV YORK.

STAM P-SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,607, dated February 23, 18921.

- Application filed October 9,1891. Serialhlo. 408,266. (Nomodeh) To all whom it may concern- I Be it known that I, HARRY A. STEvENsoN, of Sag Harbor, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Stamp'Safe, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention generally consists in a device of novel character and construction, substantially as hereinafter described, designed to be used as a safe for conveniently carrying postage and other stamps, more especially about the person or in the pocket, and for preventing them from sticking together by the softening or dampening of the mucilage on their backs, as caused byheat and moisture from the person or in the atmosphere; also for automatically feeding the stamps one or more at a time, as required, from the safe without opening the latter. Such stamp-safe will be found especially useful by the traveling community and tourists.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is aview in perspective of astampsafe embodying my invention and showing two stamps as in the act of being supplied from the safe while closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device open; Fig. 3, a transverse section of the device closed upon the line 3 3 in Fig. 4, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of the same mainly upon the line 4 4 in Fig. 3.

A indicates the body of the safe, and B a lid hinged thereto, as at b, the two forming a box, which may be either plain or artistically finished, as desired, and which should be of a convenient size to carry in the pocket and to hold any given number of stamps in addition to the interior mechanism or devices with which it is provided. This box maybe made of metal or of any other suitable material. It

may be held closed by constructing its ends with integral raised friction or spring side pieces 0 0, adapted to bind on the interior of the lid when closed, or it may be held closed by upwardly-projecting springs d (I, applied to bear on the ends of the front portion of the interior of the lid when closed, or both the pieces 0 c and springs d (1, one or more,

may be used. Where the lid 13, which is a hollow one, like the body A, meets the body in front, a mouth or space 6 is formed or left for passage of the stamps S when being supplied or fed from the closed safe or box, and the front edge of this mouth, which may extendthe length of the box, forms a tearing edge for separating the fed stamps from the others in the safe. The stamps S are intro duced into the safe in strip form,here shown as two strips abreast; but there might be more or only a single strip, if desired. They are reeled or wound, in connection with a ribbon or band fof silk or other suitable plain or prepared fabric to keep the stamps from sweating or sticking, upon a roller D in the 1006 y of the safe. The ribbon or band f is connected at its one end with the roller D and at its other end with a take-up roller E, having a spring g within it that serves to keep the band f taut as it passes from the one of said rollers to the other and to assist in feeding the stamps from the safe. The two rollers D and E may be of any suitable shape in transverse section, and the band f passes to or from opposite sides of their axes, respectively, so that said rollers will rotate in reverse directions simultaneously to each other. The strip or strips of stamps S are introduced by passing them onto the band f, so that by turning the roller D in a suitable direction they will be wound up together with the band on said roller and be kept by the intervening band from sticking to each other. The springroller E, as it may be termed, will then be under tension of its spring, so that when the roller D moves in a reverse direction the band f will be unwound from the roller D and be wound on the roller E, and the stamps S will be passed along with the band to the top of the roller E and under a thirdroller G and from thence to and through the delivery slit or mouth 6 of the safe. This third roller G may be a silk or similarly-covered one and is arranged in the lid of the box or safe. It works in slotted bearings h h at its ends and is kept forced down toward the roller E by a spring 7a with a gentle pressure. Its duty is to keep the stamps in position for being fed.

The roller D may be operated by hand by means of a milled disk II on its one end, ar-

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ranged to project slightly through thebottom of the safeand top of the lid when the box or safe is'closed, so as to be readily manipulated by the fingers. It is only necessary to rotate this roller D by hand when introducing and winding the stamps along with the band on said roller, inasmuch as when the roller D turns in a reverse direction it is actuated by the spring in the roller E to feed the stamps to and through the delivery-mouth e of the safe, as said roller E underthe tension of its spring takes up the band f from the roller D. To regulate this supply or feed of the stampsso that only one or any desired number of them will be projected through the mouth 6 at any one time, the action of the spring-roller E must be held under control or check. This may be done by any suitable pawl or controllable stop applied to the roller D. Thus on the face of the disk H, I arrangea circular series of pins or projections i, placed at a distance apart to correspond with the length of a stamp, and cause a spring Z to bear against any adjacent two of these pins 1' at a time. 7 This will hold the rollerD from turning, and consequently the spring-rollerE from turning also, and when it is required to feed or supply the stamps, as described, it is only necessary to slightly manipulate the roller D through its disk, so as to throw one of the two pins '5 out of contact with the spring Z, when the roller-spring g will come into action to rotate both rollers D and E, as required, to automatically feed or supply the stamps through the mouth 6 of the safe until two other of the pins 2' come in contact with the spring Z. This action may be repeated, according to the length of feed required at any one time.

Although the invention has here been described more particularly with reference to postage-stamps, it is, equally applicable to carrying street-car tickets or any other stamps or tickets capable of being reeled.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. A box or safe for carrying postage-stamps in roll form for use as required, provided with a web or band and operating to protect the stamps from dampness and from adhering together.

2. The method herein described of protecting stamps from sweating or adhering to gether, which consists in rolling or reeling them upon a roller in connection with a suitable ribbon or band adapted to exclude moisture from the stamps, substantially as specified.

3. In a stamp-safe provided with an opening or mouth for feed or passage of the stamps, the combination, with said sate, of mechanism arranged therein consisting of a feed-roller, a ribbon or band arranged to be reeled in connection with the stamps on said roller to protect the stamps from moisture, and a takeup roller for said ribbon or band as it is un reeled from tho feed-roller and conveys the stamps as required for use, essentially as set forth.

4. In a stamp-safe, the combination, with the box or case of said safe apertured to admit of the passage of the stamps through it, of a feed-roller, a stamp-protecting ribbon or band arranged to be reeled in connectionwith the stamps on said roller, a spring take-up roller for said ribbon or band arranged in front of the feed-roller, a spring-pressure roller arranged over the take-up roller, and a pawl or stop mechanism adapted to control the movement of-the feed and take-up rollers, the whole forming an automatic feeder of the stamps, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the body A of the casing, provided with a hinged lid and each having a slot at or near one end, said slots being one over the other, of a roller j'ournaled in the body of the case and provided with an operating-disk the periphery of which at .opposite points projects through said two slots for action by the thumb and forefinger, pins on one side of the disk, and a spring engaging two pins at a time, the case having an outlet-slot for the stamps passing from the roller, substantially as described.

HARRY A. S"EVENSON.

\Vitnesses:

ALLAN O. DALZELL, JOHN W. SPATCHER. 

